Water Law, Policy & Governance
The Water Law, Policy and Governance theme explores emerging trends and reform opportunities in water law and policy, and new forms of institutions and systems of governing that prioritize watershed sustainability. For us the watershed is the logical starting point for sustainable water management. To maintain reliable future water supplies and healthy aquatic ecosystems, all actions must be considered for their cumulative impact on the ecosystem. This moves water conservation from being a mere “add-on” solution to becoming a foundational tool for watershed managers, water planners and all water users up and down the watershed. This approach to watershed management shifts the focus from managing water resources toward managing how people live as watershed citizens.
Our report, At a Watershed: Ecological Governance and Sustainable Water Management in Canada, addresses specific issues of governance and goes beyond the urban environment. The report seeks to create an "enabling environment" within which the action plans and recommendations presented in previous reports from our Water Conservation and Soft Path theme can be fully implemented. At a Watershed is complemented by Changing the Flow: A Blueprint for Federal Action on Water and Going With the Flow: Evolving Water Allocations and the Potential and Limits of Water Markets in Canada.
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Discussion Papers, Briefing Notes and Case Studies
The FLOW Monitor is a bulletin published by the Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW). Written primarily by FLOW members, the FLOW Monitor provides independent commentary and information on key water events and issues. The WSP team regularly contributes to the publication.
The FLOW Monitor is one of the ways FLOW works to advance the water policy debate in Canada. Each edition reviews progress on key national water priorities, celebrates successes, and reviews leading efforts to move towards a federal freshwater strategy. Articles advocate actions and policies of all orders of government who share responsibility for water security in Canada.
PDFs of the current and past volumes can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. For the French versions, please visit http://www.flowcanada.org/policy/monitor/past-issues.
This assessment compares the Government's proposed Water Sustainability Act (2010) to the NGO Statement of Expectations (2009) and the original Living Water Smart promises (2008). It was prepared by Randy Christensen, a lawyer with Ecojustice Canada, and Linda Nowlan, Director of Pacific Conservation, World Wildlife Fund Canada. This assessment was issued by Ecojustice Canada, POLIS Water Sustainability Project, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, and WWF-Canada.
This position paper is the formal response of University of Victoria’s POLIS Project on Ecological Governance to the government's Policy Proposal on British Columbia's New Water Sustainability Act (December 2010). POLIS acknowledges that the policy proposal offers a number of promising new directions. However, the analysis also suggests that a number of critical aspects have been overlooked. These include: protection of environmental flows, an allocation system that embeds the public trust, shared watershed governance, and accountability and oversight.
To see the first POLIS WAM Submission (April 2010), please click here.
This document answers the call of the Premier of British Columbia for citizens to become part of the solution for securing our water future. It outlines key minimum steps critical to protecting this precious resource. This statement of expectations was developed through study and consultation, and the signatory groups urge the BC government to take swift and decisive action on the issues described within.
This Blueprint for a Comprehensive Water Conservation and Efficiency Strategy was prepared in anticipation of the development of Ontario's Provincial Water Conservation and Efficiency Strategy. This policy paper synthesizes research on progressive water conservation policies into a comprehensive plan of action. Implementation of the recommended actions would position Ontario as a leader on conservation. The Blueprint has been endorsed by a number of NGOs and will be utilized to provide input to the province's consultation process.
This detailed policy paper explores the options and opportunities for water governance reform in British Columbia. The paper was developed to assist the Ministry of Environment with its commitment to address water management and modernize the 100 year old Water Act that is no longer able to deal with existing and emerging water issues in the province. Recognizing that governance alone cannot correct inadequate water management, but poor governance will almost certainly prevent effective management, the report outlines three possible paths forward and emphasizes the need to build institutional and ecosystem resilience.
In November 2008, Water Project Leader Oliver M Brandes, as part of a group of leading Canadian scientists, water law and policy experts and environmental activists, helped develop and release a landmark Freshwater Declaration that calls on all levels of government to take urgent action to develop an integrated freshwater strategy for Canada.
A briefing note outlining priorities and opportunities for sustainable water management in British Columbia prepared for the BC Real Estate Association by Oliver Brandes and Jon O'Riordan.
